What's new in version 13.5 - February 2013

This topic lists the additions and improvements incorporated in InfoAsset Mobile version 13.5 which were not available in previous versions.

Please note that this new version also includes various enhancements and bug fixes that are not described in detail here.

General

Scheduled upload/download functionality available to non scheduled applications

The Upload Schedule () and Download Schedule () buttons and menu items have been removed and replaced with a single Synchronize reports menu item and a single Synchronize toolbar button () to handle non-scheduled reports and applications as well as scheduled reports and applications.

The default synchronization behaviour is set the Synchronization subpage of the Communications page in the Options dialog. When the Synchronize toolbar button is clicked, the default synchronization action is implemented. Available default modes are Full Synchronization, Download only and Upload only, and these can apply to all reports or saved reports only.

Drop down menus on the Synchronize reports menu item and the Synchronize toolbar button provide extra options allowing bespoke synchronization such as the download of saved reports only, current user's report only or from restricted forms only.

As part of these enhancements, the Check for new versions of reports on startup option of the Communications page of the Options dialog has been replaced with the Download any new or updated reports on startup option.

Refer to the Options dialog - Communications Page, Menus and Toolbars topics for more information.

Application

Enhancements to application import

Improvements have been made to the import of applications. This affects imports in the strict sense, i.e., importing applications from another server but also in the broad sense, i.e. applications located on the same server (in which case it is more a copy of existing applications).

Now, maps and layers used by the application are imported (or copied) at the same time as the application. Also a dialog is now displayed during import, keeping the user informed of the progress of the import.

Please note that settings that have been changed from the defaults on the original application will, where required, be reset to the defaults on the imported forms.

Also, the import of applications and forms with network restrictions has been enhanced. Now, if an application or a form that has network restrictions is imported into an application that does not use the same networks, the Networks property of the imported application / form will automatically be set to <All Networks>. This means that the imported application / form can be used with all the networks that have been selected for the application they have been imported to.

Application settings can no longer be exported

The feature allowing Administrators and System Administrators to export local settings from InfoAsset Mobile applications for multiple field device configuration has been removed due to enhanced functionality and to the fact that some of the application settings have now been moved out to an XML database. As a result, the Export settings... option of the Application menu is no longer available.

New Application property relating to the drawing of stubs for manhole surveys

The ManholeSurveyPipeStubs property has been added to the Application dialog to allow configuration of stub drawing to show incoming and outgoing pipes for manhole surveys without specified nodes.

Clicking on the button adjacent to the property displays the Pipe Stub Options dialog where default drawing options can be set for the whole application. The dialog is very similar to the one present in InfoAsset Manager except that it also allows units to be specified. Please note that editing this property will not update any existing manhole surveys but that changes will be applied to any manhole survey created from now on.

When such a report is saved or completed the stubs are drawn on the related line layer (see Drawing of Manhole Survey Inferred Pipes below) using the options set by the user in the Application dialog.

Forms

Possibility of defining a global default behaviour for the InDevelopment flag

A global setting has been added to the new Editing subpage of the Options dialog to allow Administrators to set a default behaviour for the In Development flag. This flag identifies forms that are unavailable to non-Administrators and destined to be published for testing purposes only.

The After editing a form dropdown box contains options ranging from no flag assignment to automatic assignment at form creation time with possibility of switching the flag on or off when saving or editing the form, as well as automatic flag assignment up to application publication. In addition to these options, Administrators can manually set or modify the flag from the form properties at design time.

Please refer to the Editing subpage of the Options dialog and to the In Development Form flag topics for more information.

New Attachment control available and changes to the Documents control

The Attachment object (not to be confused with the existing Attachments control) is a new control that can be added to forms. The Attachment control links to the Attachments object and only displays report attachments of a certain purpose. This means that as well as having one Attachments control with a large number of attachments, users can now also have as many Attachment controls on forms / reports as there are purposes. Attachments are now be more easily accessible thanks to this filtering system.

As part of these enhancements, the role of the Documents control has been revised. Documents are now intended to hold read-only documents relating to forms, such as SOP and manuals and reference information.

Merge process made more automatic in the form Designer

The field merging process has been enhanced in the form designer. Whenever a control is removed from a form, thorough checks are now performed by InfoAsset Mobile and an increased flexibility is now offered to the user.

If the control can be removed the user is given the option to ignore or transfer the data. If the Transfer option is chosen, a target field for the data can be selected and the user is warned that this may overwrite any existing information. This means that at edit time, any existing report that has the deleted field will have the corresponding data displayed in the target field.

If the control to be removed is a required field present in the main area of the form layout, the user is informed that it cannot be removed but that it can be moved to the Hidden Objects panel. If the control to be removed is a required field present in the Hidden Objects panel, the user will be told that it cannot be deleted from the form. Finally, if the control is already a target of a transfer then a message is displayed to the user and the operation cancelled.

See Merging fields in Form Designer for more information.

Enhancements to Button control

An AfterClick property has been added to the Button to help making the creating, closing, saving and completing of reports more of an automated process for the field user. The property sets the action to be carried out by InfoAsset Mobile after the button is clicked and can be one of the following:

• DoNothing - Current report remains open.
• CloseReport - Current report is closed and saved. A new blank report is opened, ready to be filled in.
• CompleteAndCloseReport - Current report is saved, completed and closed. A new blank report is opened, ready to be filled in.

The new blank reports getting automatically displayed to the user in the two last cases are those coming from the forms specified in the Button Editor for the corresponding button.

Reports

Improvements to the downloading of scheduled reports

Additional validation has been implemented to the download of scheduled reports. Now, an error message gets displayed if InfoAsset Mobile detects that the local application has not been updated and is missing forms compared to the version of the application on the server. In that case, scheduled reports generated from such forms cannot be downloaded and the user is instructed to update the application before downloading these reports again. Refer to the Downloading Reports topic for more information.

Auto synchronization available for the download and upload of scheduled reports

It is now possible to automatically synchronize reports between an InfoAsset Mobile client and the server. Report uploads and downloads can now be scheduled so that they are implemented at times that are suitable to the user. This functionality is available to users with a level above Engineer and involves the use of the Windows Task Scheduler. Configuration is first set up in InfoAsset Mobile, using a combination of two new dialogs: the Manage Auto Synchronization dialog and the Setup Auto Synchronization dialog and the scheduling is then carried out using the Windows Task Scheduler. Please refer to the Auto Synchronizing Report Uploads and Downloads topic for more information.

Changes to CCTV Survey and Pipe Clean report creation on map

When creating CCTV survey and pipe clean reports on the map, users can now attach them to nodes and manhole surveys as well as to pipes. For both nodes and manhole surveys, only the start manhole or both the start manhole and the end manhole can be specified.

If a pipe is selected on the map to generate a pipe clean, the pipe will be used in preference to nodes/manhole surveys. Likewise, if a pipe clean is created from nodes/manhole surveys, these will be used and the pipe clean will be represented on the map by a straight line between these two nodes/manhole surveys.

See Creating Reports on Maps - Important note about CCTV Surveys and Important note about Pipe Cleans for more information.

Maps and Layers

Internet map support

This version of InfoAsset Mobile supports Internet maps such as Bing (aerial, hybrid, street), Google (map and satellite) and Yahoo (map and satellite). This means that users can now use Internet maps as background layers in the main map when creating or filling in reports.

Internet mapping must first be enabled for the application (via the ShowInternetMap option of the Application dialog). This adds the Internet tab to the main map. In this tab, users can select and visualise the desired Internet map. Also, the map positioning can be turned on by setting the EnableGPS property of the map to True (See Application dialog for more information). This will result in the Internet map being in sync with the normal map, allowing the user to use the Internet mapping as reference.

Ability to export layer symbology to XML and to copy symbology between layers

Layer theme and symbol, also known as layer symbology, can now be exported to XML for the current layer from the Select Theme dialog, which is accessible via the Configure Map Layer dialog. This allows users to save the current theme and symbol to an XML file for later use, and more specifically for import into a different layer. Layer symbology can be imported from a layer to another, provided the layer type is compatible. Import is configured in the Select Theme dialog and can be carried out on two layers within the same application or layers belonging to different applications. In the first case, the symbology of the source layer is copied onto the destination layer whereas in the second case, the symbology is actually imported to the destination layer via XML.

Drawing of Manhole Survey Inferred Pipes

Manhole survey local dynamic layers have been enhanced to include a pseudo layer of related inferred pipes. This is particularly useful when these surveys are carried out on unfound pipes and manholes. This pseudo layer shows the inferred pipes on the map. Up to this version of InfoAsset Mobile users had to wait for the assets to be created from the manhole surveys in InfoAsset Manager before the associated pipes were drawn on the map.

This layer is only available for manhole survey local dynamic layers and its display is controlled by the new Show related information check box available on the Configure Map Layer dialog. By enabling / disabling this option users can show / hide the related layer on the map. The related layer is not visible in the map legend but is on the map. If the manhole survey layer is hidden from the map legend, the related layer will automatically be hidden.

Additionally, the Configure Map Layer dialog of manhole survey local dynamic layers has been enhanced with options allowing the configuration of the symbol and theme of the related layer.

It is important to note that for these improvements to be applied, manhole survey local dynamic layers must be removed from existing maps and subsequently re-added as existing maps will be missing the pseudo layer.

Centering maps on current GPS location

It is now possible to center maps on the current GPS location by using the button of the map toolbar.

Projection system functionality rationalisation

In order to align InfoAsset Mobile with InfoAsset Manager so they use the same projection library, improvements have been made to the Select Projection dialog. As part of these enhancements, it is now possible to search for projections via text or EPSG code and to use a custom PROJ.4 string.

Improvements to layer management within the Map Designer

Additional context menu options have been added to the Layers tab of the Map Designer. Users can now use the context menu as well as the toolbar to add, remove, promote and demote layers.

Licensing improvements

InfoAsset Mobile now allocates new mobile licences to mobile devices for which the operating system has been changed or upgraded in order to prevent duplicate client licences being issued to these devices. Users are reminded that licences can be checked an managed from the Field Licence Management dialog, which is available from the Tools menu.